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bblanka's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Drug use, and Death
lybrarie's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is the first adult classic I ever read and I have it to thank for all the classics I have read since. I absolutely fell in love with this book the first time I read it, and several years later I still love it just as much. In fact, I'd even go as far to say that I love it more.
On my journey of reading classics I have come to be used to and even greatly enjoy the style of writing that typically comes with classics, and I have adored a lot of the classics I have read. But I always find myself comparing the love I have for whatever classic I have recently finished to my love for this book. It has been a real joy to come back to.
Since first reading this book, I have read some more of Oscar Wilde's writing and I truly do love it. Coming back to this book I really got to appreciate Wilde's writing and the beauty of it. This is a great book and I really recommend it to everyone. For me it was the perfect gateway into reading classics - it is short and pretty easy to read (as far as classics go), and I love the plot and the message of the book.
I originally only gave this book 4 stars, but now I am increasing it to 5. This book is not perfect, but since I rate off of overall enjoyment I still want to give this 5 stars.
On my journey of reading classics I have come to be used to and even greatly enjoy the style of writing that typically comes with classics, and I have adored a lot of the classics I have read. But I always find myself comparing the love I have for whatever classic I have recently finished to my love for this book. It has been a real joy to come back to.
Since first reading this book, I have read some more of Oscar Wilde's writing and I truly do love it. Coming back to this book I really got to appreciate Wilde's writing and the beauty of it. This is a great book and I really recommend it to everyone. For me it was the perfect gateway into reading classics - it is short and pretty easy to read (as far as classics go), and I love the plot and the message of the book.
I originally only gave this book 4 stars, but now I am increasing it to 5. This book is not perfect, but since I rate off of overall enjoyment I still want to give this 5 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, Antisemitism, and Racism
lindseyhall44's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
“Words! Mere Words! How terrible they were! How clear, and vivid, and cruel! One cannot escape from them. And yet what a subtle magic there was in them! They seemed to be able to give a plastic form to the formless things, and to have a music of their own, as sweet as the viol or of lute. Mere words? Was there anything so real as words?”-The Picture of Dorian Gray
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Murder, and Sexism
hello_lovely13's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Suicide
Moderate: Antisemitism, Misogyny, and Sexism
starryknightace's review against another edition
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
1.5
Such an interesting concept but didn't age well into the 21st century. With controversial anti-Semitism and misogyny dotted throughout the story it made it easy to dislike the characters and made for an interesting read. I personally struggle with the classic English writing style and found at times struggling to understand what I was reading, Wilde uses a lot of flowery descriptive paragraphs, which were quite honestly, boring. I found myself 70 pages in and gritting my teeth to get through the rest. Admittedly the action did somewhat pick up and I found myself enthralled to see the confliction in Dorian Gray's moral come to blows. A bit of a lackluster climax but definitely can see the appeal and why the novel is still considered a classic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Murder, and Drug use
Minor: Racial slurs, Sexism, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Antisemitism
valreadsallnight's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was, is, amazing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Antisemitism, Toxic friendship, and Murder
Moderate: Drug use, Sexism, and Suicide
Minor: Antisemitism
The instance of antisemitism happened only early in the novel, but it is really, really viscerally pungent. So prepare yourself,alyssapusateri's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Body horror, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Addiction, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Drug use, Classism, Drug abuse, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Infidelity and Antisemitism
neali's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Classism
Minor: Racial slurs
lucyford's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
There are lots of things I liked and did not like about this book, but I overall enjoyed it and think it’s worthy of at least 4 stars. At first I didn’t like it that much because it was a bit difficult to read in the sense that so much talking was being done about things I couldn’t really understand, but once I started reading it from a more chill perspective I enjoyed it 10x as much. When reading it you’ll come to realize that the beauty of the book lies in the writing itself, which is just amazing. I also really liked how the plot progressed and how Dorian’s character gradually changed so horribly due to Henry’s influence (which I’m so mad about). Overall, this book is literally art and I will probably read it again in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Gore, Murder, Suicide, and Blood
Minor: Emotional abuse